St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

Rochdale · OL16 4RX

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1023 pupils, 43.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Requires improvement

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 17.1% on SEN support Behaviour 10.6% absence rate Staff 25.3% turnover Financials £8,387 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

General Information

Address: Shaw Road, Thornham, Rochdale, OL16 4RX – View on map
Phone: 01706647761
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Emma Keenan
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 103 families put it first for 127 places – 8 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 3 of the 127 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2024 7 · 2025 7 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1023 pupils out of 1200 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 442
% eligible for free school meals: 43.2%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Rochdale average)
English as an additional language: 31% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 25.3% a year (Rochdale 18.5%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 72% moved to another school, 28% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (one year, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Rochdale: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 48 (3.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 32 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 12 (0.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Rochdale, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 10.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 32.7%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 17.1%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Other difficulty or disability: 49 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 43 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 42 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 17 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 10 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 17 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 11 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Vision impairment: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Requires improvement 2022 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 39.7
Compared with the area: 2.2 points below the Rochdale average (41.9)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (−2.9 points against an expected 42.6)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 47% (Rochdale 57%, England 65%)
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

8th of 11 secondary schools in Rochdale for Attainment 8

#6Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School40.9
#7Dixons Middleton Academy40.3
#8St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy39.7
#9Matthew Moss High School39.4
#10Newhouse Academy38.9

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Hollingworth Academy51.1
#2Oulder Hill Leadership Academy44.4
#3St Anne's Church of England Academy44.1
#4Wardle Academy44.1
#5Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College43.4
#6Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School40.9
#7Dixons Middleton Academy40.3
#8St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy39.7
#9Matthew Moss High School39.4
#10Newhouse Academy38.9
#11Kingsway Park High School35.3

GCSE Subjects Offered

Science Double Award
Maths (General)
English Language
Religious Studies
English Literature
History
Business Studies
Geography
Sociology
Art & Design
Computer Science
Speech & Drama
Music Studies (General)
Food Technology
Sports Studies
Spanish
Polish
Portuguese
French Language
Chinese
Italian
Urdu
German

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

9th of 9 secondary schools in Rochdale for Ofsted rating

#7Wardle AcademyGood
#8Newhouse AcademyRequires improvement
#9St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary AcademyRequires improvement

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High SchoolGood
#2Dixons Middleton AcademyGood
#3Falinge Park High SchoolGood
#4Hollingworth AcademyGood
#5Matthew Moss High SchoolGood
#6St Anne's Church of England AcademyGood
#7Wardle AcademyGood
#8Newhouse AcademyRequires improvement
#9St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary AcademyRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,387 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

8th of 13 secondary schools in Rochdale for spending per pupil

#6Newhouse Academy£8,487
#7Hollingworth Academy£8,393
#8St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy£8,387
#9Dixons Middleton Academy£8,226
#10Wardle Academy£8,151

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1St Anne's Church of England Academy£9,787
#2Edgar Wood Academy£8,777
#3Matthew Moss High School£8,555
#4Kingsway Park High School£8,533
#5Oulder Hill Leadership Academy£8,514
#6Newhouse Academy£8,487
#7Hollingworth Academy£8,393
#8St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy£8,387
#9Dixons Middleton Academy£8,226
#10Wardle Academy£8,151
#11Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School£8,138
#12Falinge Park High School£8,103
#13Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College£7,932

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Rochdale: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered